Rose Kiss
by Dierdre LeFae
Summary: LitaDarien challenge and crossover with some other manga characters.Before the fall of the Moon Kingdom, there was trouble between the Earth and Moon. Queen Serenity was determined to establish peace, but what will her decision mean for two young lovers?
1. Rose Kiss

Prologue: Rose Kiss

It was in the season of spring in the climate controlled Moon Kingdom; in the courtyards of the Moon Palace, flowers were blooming everywhere imaginable, and trees and shrubs were waking up from a long winters nap, shaking off any snow that still lingered to their branches. The fields beyond the Palace that were not so long ago withered and snow-laden now had become lush green and flowers bursted right on schedule in the morning sun- blues, pinks, purples, and oranges were splattered across the fields in a beautiful display of artwork.

In the middle of such a field was a little girl dressed in elegant layers of multi-hued opaque and transparent silks. Her hair hung loosely around her shoulders and the gentle breeze kept getting the brown tendrils in her face. She groaned as a sharp upwind came from the west, causing her hair to go haywire, flying all over the place and blinding her temporarily. As the breeze fell, she fought to gain control of the tangled mess of locks so that she could get back to her task- uprooting unique wild flowers for the garden that she had started in the Emerald Tower of the Palace, where she stayed.

Suddenly, a shadow overcame her, causing her to again be incapable of finding what she was looking for. Furious, she stood up and spun around, her face a mixture of defiance and rage.

"Hello Lita," a boy looked down on her, his body rigid with seriousness, his face full of a pleasantly warm smile. He was slightly older than her, and taller, but appeared ageless in his formal fitted black dress pants, and black high collared blazer that was lined with his school colors, red, and gold, on the wrists and along the collar.

"Oh Darien, you startled me," the little princess's face was now a sweet smile and her voice was tender to match.

"I'm terribly sorry princess, but I wanted to surprise you," he pulled something from the inside of his blazer and presented it to Lita. It was a gorgeous English rose in a delicate pink color, "It's called a rose, we have a lot of them on Earth, so far it's the only planet they have been grown on. The flower reminds me of you Lita. It his extremely lovely to look at, but if you aren't careful, you might get pricked by its sharp thorns." Darien smiled coyly.

"Are you teasing about my temper?" Lita quickly went into defense mode and Darien laughed gently

"Of course my sweet rose, it is one of the many, many things that makes me love you so," Darien took Lita's chin in his hand and raised her head upwards towards his face as he leaned down to kiss her. His lips pressed firmly into hers, and her arms wrapped around him, bringing him close.

He gently pulled away and lovingly eyed Lita, "May the cold months be gone forever,"

Lita smiled and added, "And the warm be here in us forever."

It was an old Moon saying that the two children had been using for a long time as code talk. The only time they were able to see one another was the spring and summer, that's when they both lived on the moon, in their respective towers of the Moon Palace. When the cold weather came, they, along with all of the palace guests, went back to their home worlds. It was a long stay, but never seemed quite long enough.

Those days were full of this wonderful ignorance. Jupiter princess Alita and Earth prince Darien spent their warm months together, nestled in each others love, a love that grew only stronger with each passing year. Sadly, another thing grew with each passing year, quarreling between the Earth and Moon and political turmoil. Deep down, both knew of what their royal duties were, but deeper down, their love for one another surpassed all reason.


	2. First Day of Spring

As always, I don't own these characters. They belong to Naoko Takeuchi and CLAMP. All OC characters, of course, are mine:D Enjoy!

AN: I love the reviews I got from the prologue! I was hoping to confuse some people:D Don't worry, questions will be answered here in this chapter.

I would have submitted this yesterday when I finished, but for some reason, my college has the site blocked. Sorry.

First Day of Spring:

Princess Alita was staring out the window of her bedroom, staring out into the sky as the weather patterns were being changed from winter to spring. This was her favorite time of year, it was a breath-taking sight watching all of the last snow be melted away and for the spring program to take charge and make everything wake up, turn green, and bloom. Alita's own garden was just now starting to make the transformation. Even the plants in her bedroom- cooking herbs, tea herbs, and the many roses were all being told to bloom.

Alita tugged on her hair, it was gathered together in a simple knot on the right side of her neck while the rest hung loosely around her body stopping just shy of her knees. Emeralds and diamonds were strung across her forehead and woven throughout her hair. From her ears dangled large pink diamond encrusted roses; around her neck was a simple braided chain of gold with emeralds here and there. The dress she wore was made of many layers of sheer green silk that just barely showed her very feminine body underneath- long, slender legs, curvy bare backside, and two full breasts at the top. The dress tied at the nape of the neck and dropped dramatically low in the back, stopping at the small of her back; and low in the front, going right down to her emerald encrusted navel. The fabric was held just under the breasts by a fine gold chain that brought the sheer fabric tight over her bosoms, exposing every inch of the rather large breasts. The skirt flowed out from the hips to a pool of fabric on the floor, just sheer enough at the bottom that it exposed her gold sandals underneath that were covered with diamonds and emeralds around the toes to complete the ensemble.

Alita was so busy admiring the outdoors that she didn't hear the young lady walk in. This lady wasn't the grown woman that Alita was. She wasn't yet old enough for the sheer fabrics that her superior wore. Instead, she wore a simple light green dress that was made of fine fabric and embroidered in gold. The dress was similar to her superior's, but where Alita's was designed to show womanhood, this lady's dress was designed to exhibit modesty. There were no open gaps in the design, fabric filled in those areas, however, the heavy embroidery on these areas suggested at the female body underneath. She wore no jewelry, as she was not royalty and not yet of the age to wear it properly. Her golden hair was cut short, it came just to the bottom of her ears.

The lady smiled patiently in Alita's direction, she could easily guess what the princess was thinking about, and it wasn't just flowers. Every spring the royal families of the planets came to the Moon kingdom to stay until autumn brought cold weather again. The warm months they all spent together for advanced classes to be taught to the royal youth, political issues to be resolved, and to celebrate the many years of peace in the galaxy.

Unfortunately, the past few years had been full of quite a few political problems. At the top of the long list was the great conflict with the Earth and the Moon. Queen Serenity had tried her best to maintain order and peace, but with so many evils being spread throughout the Earth, everyone knew it was only a matter of time before a war would begin. This news had put a great damper on Alita and Darien's secret relationship. The chances for them to be together to begin with were very slim, but now those chances were nearly non existent.

The lady snapped out of her thoughts and reminded herself what she was doing here in Alita's bedroom. She tip toed silently to Alita and tapped her on the shoulder.

Alita spun around in a flurry of silk and greeted the lady with a punch in the arm.

"Ow! Hey, watch it!" the lady giggled and punched Alita back.

"So," Alita sauntered over to a rather lavish looking chaise lounge and delicately reclined "what brings you here Saki?"

Sakura blushed violently at the nickname her superior referred to her as. Alita smiled teasingly, knowing how much Sakura hated the nickname. The princess had given the name to her after Sakura had tried some of the sake that Darien brought from Earth last spring. Sakura had only sip before she was gone for the rest of the night, acting every bit of a fool, dancing around, singing nonsensical songs. The only thing that could have made it funnier was if the other ladies-in-waiting had witnessed it; but that wouldn't have been a very good thing. Sakura was the most trust worthy of Princess Alita's ladies, had any of the others found out about Alita and Darien's secret love affair, they would have rushed to tell someone the moment they found out.

"Well, I _did_ have something very important..now what was it? Something about Darien wanting to meet you? Hmm, I just can't seem to recall…"

Alita immediately ceased being coy and leaped from the chaise lounge and grabbed Sakura up in one swift move. She lifted Sakura over her head until she promised, through fits of giggles, to tell Alita what Darien had said to her. Unfortunately for Alita, Sakura always liked to play little games with her when it came to divulging information that Darien had asked her to pass on. Sakura was the way Alita and Darien communicated when they were both staying at the Moon Palace. Darien would pass on to his most trusted guard, Syaoran any plans he came up with to meet up with Alita, Syaoran would pass them to Sakura, then Sakura would tease and play games with Alita until Alita finally got fed up and demanded to know.

This time, however, Alita took no time before she went straight into demanding. Sakura guessed that it was because of the troubles that were going on in the galaxy. Alita was afraid that this might be one of their last times together, and from what Syaoran told Sakura, Darien felt the same way. The two lovers were desperate to spend as much time together as possible this year, fearing it may be their last together.

Alita placed Sakura on her bed and sat down next to her, full of smiles and eager for what plans her beloved had conceived.

Sakura, still a bit disappointed at how short their game was, decided to try one more tactic, "First, why don't you tell me what mushy memory you were just reminiscing about."

Alita looked at Sakura skeptically, but there weren't many opportunities to delve to the only person she could about her secret life with Darien, so she began to tell Sakura of the day when Darien gave her her first rose.

"I was very young then, I had just started secondary education and Darien was nearly through with it and about to move into the more detailed study structure that all princes are required to take, well at least the ones on Earth. We had known each other ever since we were small children, and always had a strong friendship. The older we got, the more that deep friendship grew into something we couldn't comprehend, it became this intense, devoting love. Even though we were both just teenagers, we knew that we would love one another forever. It's so hard to put into words, but the feelings that the both of us had back then, and even to this day, are so definite, as true as a fact in a book. Well, it wasn't long before we had found out that our love had to be a secret. None of us, as royalty, have much choice in who we are to marry."

" But that has never stopped the two of you, I'm sure." Sakura interjected.

Alita laughed "That's so true! Well, this was before you were assigned as a lady-in-waiting for me, Saki. Darien and I usually just had to sneak off to see one another. It was a day much like today, the first of spring, and he had just come here via the Transport. He had snuck off, while his family was still talking with the other parents, and had given me the most beautiful pink rose."

"Ah, so that's why you have so many roses in your garden and here in your room!"

Alita nodded " It was the first rose I had ever seen, because roses only grow on Earth. That same day, when he gave me the rose, was the first time we had ever kissed." Alita closed her eyes and touched her lips fondly at the memory "it was such an amazing experience, the first time his lips brushed against my own, I don't think I've ever felt so weak before!"

"You? Weak? That must have been some kiss," Sakura teased. At this they both were thrown into a fit of giggles. The very idea of Alita being anything but strong of both mind and body was absurd. But Sakura knew what Alita was talking about, she knew the effects of first kisses as well, not that she had told Alita of this. Although their friendship was stronger than the gravity that held them to the ground, there were some things that Sakura could just not bring herself to divulge.

Alita, finally able to regain composure, tried her best to look stern after such an outburst, "So, _now_ will you tell me where I am to meet my dear, sweet prince?"

Sakura's thirst for teasing satiated, she told Alita of Darien's plan, "Well, as you know, there is the Spring Ball tonight. Your dates are all chosen for you, probably future spouse candidates if you ask me," both girls grimaced at the thought. This was one of the few balls that was for the princes and princess only, but Alita always was sure to tell the night's horror stories to Sakura when she returned. The beasts of men her parents procured for her were either exceedingly dull or insanely libidinous, and Alita was sure this year was to be no exception. "Well, Darien has plans of getting out of this night as well. He plans on becoming ill from something he eats at dinner. From his personal studies in Earth plants, he found this one plant that can induce nausea. He plans on sneaking it onto his food when no one is looking at then when he takes a bite- he will be rushed to his room! And don't worry, he has an antidote for this condition, so as soon as he is left alone, he will take it and sneak out of his room as soon as the ball starts. For you, he wants you to simply twist your ankle at the ball tonight. Since I am your most trusted lady, I will be entrusted with seeing you to your room for you to rest and to 'heal' you. But in reality, I will be taking you to the secret meeting place Darien has set up for tonight. Although, he hasn't told me where yet, so we shall have to rendezvous with Syaoran in the hall just outside of the ball room so he can inform us. Darien didn't want to take any chances, just in case the first parts of the plan were to go awry."

Alita was full of excitement over the plan. Darien was very good with coming up with extremely clever ways for them to see one another, this was just an example of his cunning. She was so excited that she couldn't wait for it to go into action, Alita always loved the thrill she got from sneaking around to see her beloved.

The two girls then prepared to depart for the lavish breakfast that would be prepared for everyone in the breakfast courtyard. Alita glanced back out of the window before she followed Sakura downstairs and saw that the spring program had completed its cycle by now; the entire landscape, as far as the eye could see and surely beyond, had been turned from winter to spring in the course of just an hour. The weather outside would have already been set to match the scene by maintaining warm temperatures mixed with a somewhat cool breeze.

As the two girls met up with Princess Jupiter's other ladies, they all made their way down to the gardens of the breakfast courtyard, a flurry of green silks and fine green fabrics that nearly blended with the spring scene outside.

As Alita was seated at one end of the table, she could see the rush of black, white and silver that was the Earthians being seated. Alita's heart jumped, oh how she couldn't wait for all of these formalities to be over so that she and Darien could meet.

AN: Wonder why I put so much detail into Lita's outfit? Especially the parts about her breasts? I'm not trying to be pervy, but in the original anime and some manga, Lita is referred to as "busty" (although here in America, that is dubbed with a different word). I wanted to stay true to certain, perhaps unknown aspects of Lita; such as the fact that she's a stubborn tomboy, but loves feminine things like cooking and gardening. Although I am not trying to be too true to original storylines (I am wanting this story to feel fresh when you read it, like something you wouldn't expect from reading lots of smff), there are certain character aspects that must be present for the beloved characters to be believable.

Another thing I have done is use the name "Darien" instead of Endymion. This is because Endymion is the name of the Greek lover of Selene, the goddess of the moon, and as is clearly stated in these first few chapters, Darien is clearly in love with Lita. Why didn't I use Mamoru? Personal preference. Although, since I am early in writing, if my readers would prefer the name to be Mamoru instead of Darien, I would change it. No big deal since both names have the same meaning "protector".

I hope you enjoyed this latest installment and are looking forward to the next chapter, that will hopefully be done by next week.


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